EMERGENT MANAGEMENT OF ACUTE ASTHMA

Asthma is defined as reversible airflow obstruction caused by bronchos pasm and airway inflammation. When an acute exacerbation occurs, the p atient's symptoms worsen significantly to warrant a visit to the emerg ency department, and occasionally hospitalization is needed to control symptoms. Status asthmaticus is defined as a severe episode of asthma unrelieved by usually effective bronchodilators drugs. Potentially fa tal asthma (PFA) is ascribed to those patients listed in Table 1.(22) Malignant PFA delineates a subset of patients with PFA, whose noncompl iance with management makes their disease virtually impossible to cont rol.(11) Sudden asphyxic asthma refers to those patients that develop a sudden dramatic deterioration leading to respiratory failure over a few hours. Potentially avoidable factors are identified in up to 82% o f all deaths from asthma that were evaluated in a study by the British Thoracic Association in 1979.(5)